Shizuko
Shizuko (静子) is the daughter of Orochimaru. She's one of the last surviving members of the Shimizu Clan and the Village Head of Shingakure. Background Early Life Shizuko’s mother died halfway through the birth, resulting in Orochimaru having the finish up. A girl; not what he wanted. And not breathing. No sound, much less the necessary scream. From his times working in the background of Tsunade’s medical training, he mimicked what she did when a child failed to breathe. Still nothing, and the female Akatsuki member who agreed to aid during the birth watched as Orochimaru struggled. She only reacted when Orochimaru hit his last resort. He bit his daughter and placed the Cursed Seal of Moon over her lungs. Finally, Shizuko screamed, taking her first breath. Though Orochimaru injected much of his chakra into her, her Shimizu chakra fought back to keep her chakra from corrupting. It was solid luck she carried fractions of her father’s life force to ultimately keep her alive during the first year of her life as the cursed seal healed. Though not a member of Akatsuki, Orochimaru humored Shizuko when she asked to wear clothes similar to his own. He had a child-size outfit to match his own and when he needed to shut her up, he handed over his headband and ring. She couldn’t meet the other members. However, Sasori being Orochimaru’s partner, she met him sooner than the others. When Shizuko warmed up to Sasori quickly, attempting to show off her genjutsu, Orochimaru felt Sasori would be a good distraction for her. Sasori never explicitly agreed to not watch her, but he never made her leave. It became habit, and Shizuko never failed to visit Sasori every day. When Sasori saw she could use chakra, he took interest and offered to teach her the Puppet Technique. While Shizuko got a couple hours of training, when Orochimaru saw Sasori was teaching her something, he put a stop to it. From that day forward, Orochimaru taught Shizuko the way he wanted her to learn, helping her establish a massive killing intent. One day Shizuko, being a toddler with a short attention span, ran out of the room she was supposed to be staying in until Orochimaru and Sasori came back from a mission. She ran straight into Kakuzu, who responded first with an annoyed grunt, then blasted her with a powerful Water Release technique. It sent her fully backward, down the tunnel-like hall of the current hideout. Water went into her lungs, but the cursed seal aided her in breathing. Despite her obvious injuries, Shizuko found the power he had fascinating and wished to peruse the same style of attack. She practiced in what she thought was secret, but other Akatsuki members watched her practice using any possible water source to practice. She worked up her skills to produce the same technique as Kakuzu and showed Orochimaru, who smacked her for having wasted time when she had genjutsu to practice. Having received her first ounce of punishment, she put all her time and energy in genjutsu. Shizuko found a natural place with the other Akatsuki members once introduced, admiring their power and ways of killing. She aspired to be like them. Her particular favorite, much to Orochimaru’s dismay, was Hidan, who she came to call her uncle given his willingness to entertain her. That ended when Itachi Uchiha entered Akatsuki. When Orochimaru saw opportunity to gain the power of the Sharingan, but Itachi stopped him with a genjutsu. Orochimaru hadn't been aware Shizuko's mother held genes capable of housing a kekkei genkai in their child. Unknown for several years of her life, Shizuko was born with a genjutsu shield fully intact. The shield was confirmed when Shizuko broke Orochimaru from Itachi's genjutsu by stretching her shield out to him. Itachi attempted casting Shizuko under his genjutsu, failing. He even tried taking them down with a fireball, but Shizuko defended them. Containing both her genjutsu shield and her near-mastery of a high-leveled Water Release technique, Itachi deemed Shizuko was one of the worst enemies for his style of combat. Aware of what Akatsuki planned and that they wouldn’t bend the rules, Orochimaru forced Shizuko away from them. When he acquired new bodies, her opinions on him shifted. She wasn't upset he killed others, but rather how he showed no interest in her as a container. Shizuko met most of the Sound Four when she was ten. The group existed in a smaller hideout they didn’t visit often, but during those brief visits, Shizuko watched a group of four; they always stuck together. Like family. Like Akatsuki. Her homesickness from being pulled away from Akatsuki was still there, so she thought she’d visit those who were also in the place she thought home to be. Instant rivalry. Especially between Shizuko and Tayuya, who both used illusions to attack. Shizuko couldn't see illusions, but she placed them on Tayuya, and there was no way to get her back. The others didn’t acknowledge Shizuko at first, thinking if they spoke badly to the daughter of their capturer, they’d be dead for sure. That was until Shizuko offered to aid Tayuya in her genjutsu skills. Over time, as Tayuya and Shizuko got closer, gaining a more sibling-like bond, Sakon and Ukon approached Shizuko. Their caution didn’t cease though. Not until and , who hadn’t warmed up to her, threatened to kill her. Orochimaru seemed to have come out of nowhere, but he always watched over Shizuko when Kabuto couldn’t. Unlike with Jirōbō and Kidōmaru, Shizuko believed her father’s death threats to be true, so before he could so much as step near any of the group, she moved in front. She protected them, and through many threats of abandoning Orochimaru, he finally backed off and away. Though they weren’t all friends, they created their own group called . Some time later, Shizuko gained a crush for the more brutal of the twins, Ukon, and the moment she let one too many smiles slip, Orochimaru caught on. He was livid and once more threatened to kill the entire group if Shizuko so much as looked at Ukon. She made the empty promise: she wouldn’t associate with him again. Really, she planned. It took little research for Shizuko to figure out where her mother had come from, and when she found out, she told her group they’d escape to there. They agreed they’d help and get out together. No matter what. False Background Orochimaru creates a false background for Shizuko when he assigns her to go along with Kabuto during the Chūnin Exams: Shizuko lived in Shingakure and was sent on her first C-rank mission, but the mission took a complete one-eighty as a group of S-rank missing-nin known as Akatsuki confronted them. Because of Shizuko's unique kekkei genkai, they were after her, but because of said limit, she got away. She remained lost for a couple years, learning to fend for herself by learning technique to trick the mind of others. However, one person could dispel her genjutsu with ease. Kabuto Yakushi. She was apparently on Konohagakure's land but had no idea. He convinced her to come with him to his village and join his team as one of his teammates recently perished. Chūnin Exams Taking Back Shingakure Fourth Shinobi World War Living The Genjutsu Personality As a child, Shizuko wasn't allowed to socialize with others, so when she finally was allowed to do so, she spoke to others nonstop, coming off as annoying. Her way of speaking simmered down eventually, though she's still always up for a long chat. When first presented during the Chūnin Exams, Shizuko was distant, as if thinking a little too much. She mostly worked well with Kabuto when helping Team 7 find their way through the Forest of Death. When assigned to fight Ino, Shizuko shows to have a side of her that desires the sight of other's blood. She enjoys the warmth of it, feeling the warmth as something she never had in her past, so she savored it when she finally got it. However, when her own blood runs, she shakes in fear. She expresses her knowledge on strength, power, and weakness, and how everyone needed all three to be anything close to human. With her believing she can tell who is strong and who has power, she’s often arrogant and thinks she has power, when in actuality, the only power she has is to see other's strengths and power. Her power was truly an illusion not even her shield could break. During her second major appearance, Shizuko has betrayed Orochimaru. Even after leaving his side to pursue her rightful place as Shingakure's Village Head, she refused to remove his only forehead protector just so she could keep something that was him. Orochimaru is her world despite his belief. She shows interest in certain bonds others have. Especially family-type bonds where she can see simply by looking at the way others look at each other. Shizuko hated her mother for having died during birth. She found it to be a sign of clear weakness. However, as she aged and her intelligence expanded, she came to realize the lack of control humans have against their own death. This proves to be especially true when she has to find and dead. She refused to let that be though. Death when in vain is not something Shizuko can accept. She was smart enough, though, to understand she couldn't fight off those who killed them, no matter how battered they were; she wasn't strong enough. In addition to her past hatred of her mother, she also once hated the stars as Orochimaru once told her a story of her mother's belief in those who perish turn into stars. Shizuko feared staring up at the night sky for the longest time after that, at first fearing she'd see dead people, but eventually that she'd see her mother and somehow connect to her in the way she connected to Orochimaru. She is a quick healer emotionally, often following her father's advice on "Grieve, be mad, and move on". Sometimes, however, that doesn't work out for her. Appearance Shizuko shares many characteristics with Orochimaru: pale skin, slitted pupils, purple markings around her eyes and fang-like teeth. However, her eyes are brown, which she inherits from her mother. Her upper body is slim, but her legs are stocky due to the massive amount of tree hopping she does on a daily basis. Her hair runs a shade lighter than Orochimaru's and falls down to the middle of her back. In Part II, she puts her hair up in a ponytail to keep it out of her face. Shizuko wears robes with mesh under them. The article of clothing has been shown to holds her back from fighting to her fullest extent, but since she rarely fights to that point, she doesn't mind. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, she wears her father's Akatsuki cloak with rope bracelet her father gave her when she refused to wear the signature purple rope belt he wore. Tied to it was a kunai also given to her, but this time from Kabuto; her name is engraved on the handle. In , Shizuko wears a robe of the lightest shade of pink possible with a tiny snake-shape and decorated roped-belt to keep the robe tightly around the spots that aren't covered by a mesh undershirt. Her clothing choice doesn't change in , but she's shown wearing different colors or robes. Her eyes are a lot more dim and her wrist bones are more visible as her clan's poor genetics nip at her health. Abilities Chakra and Physical Powess Cursed Seal of Moon Genjutsu Her genjutsu skills are top-notch. Despite never having witnessed an illusion, she knows how to create and cast them to a near-perfect degree. She creates the most disturbing for shock factor, and if it's strong enough, she can cause folks faint or have a heart attack. She also offers tame genjutsu as distractions to opponents she knows won't be affected by her disturbing ones. Genjutsu: Storytime Shizuko has a series of genjutsu she completes by placing a hand on her opponents head to ensure every nerve in their body is transported into the illusion she creates. In addition, they evoke the emotion of their title. For example, 'Sad Child' makes victims sad, et cetera. They are taken directly from her past, from past kills to her happy and sad moments. The former is to get her opponents fearing for their life while the latter is meant to get her opponents feeling for her. If not used in battle, it can purely as a storyteller when others wish to know about her past. Elemental Genjutsu Kekkei Genkai Genjutsu Shield Eye Against Power Ninjutsu Her ninjutsu skills rest a few steps lower than her genjutsu skills but that's not saying a lot given just have skilled she is the the latter. Being Orochimaru's daughter, it's expected she be as skilled as she is. Shizuko is skilled in fūinjutsu. She used colored ink, finding it works much stronger than the ink normally used. Her studies mostly went into how to unseal curse marks. Her first creation, however, was to separate herself from her own seal. Though she never got rid of it, she created a colored ink unsealing technique that allowed her to temperately go against Orochimaru's orders. Every month, she reapplies it. She also created unsealing techniques for the Sound Four. Because of her clean chakra and Yin Release, Shizuko can also perform basic , but with her lacking interest, she never mastered much more than healing scratches and other minor injuries on herself and others. Kunai were once her weapon of choice, and while she still uses them in close-range battles, she soon learned to throw shuriken to fit her mid to long range style of fighting. She also uses kakute when applying her Genjutsu: Storytime on others as it requires physical contact. Nature Transformation Shizuko has Water and Yin Release Much like her clan member that came before her, she is especially well-versed in Water Release ninjutsu. She was originally inspired by Kakuzu when he nearly killed her with his own technique. She later took much advice from Kisame Hoshigaki, and even later Suigetsu Hōzuki. Space–Time Ninjutsu Shizuko is contracted with snakes. Her main summon is Keiko, who is heftily known to utilize Lightning Release, mixing well with Shizuko's Water Release. She first mastered the technique at age seven when Orochimaru felt Shizuko needed someone besides him to talk with, so he taught her the Summoning Technique. It took months to master, but Shizuko eventually summoned an egg that Keiko would soon hatch from. She also has a set of summons she uses for when she's struck with poison. She summons them, they drain the newfound poison, and she sends them to Orochimaru so he can make sure Sasuke is immune to the specific poison-type. Reincarnation Ninjutsu Shizuko can perform a technique similar to Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation, but because of her clan's naturally clean chakra, she refuses to control those she brings back. By applying her clean chakra over the corrupted part from her cursed seal, she can transfer someone's life forced into those who are perished. That's it. She has zero control over them, but they're very much alive. Chiyo notes it to be similar to her One's Own Life Reincarnation technique but doesn't result in the user's death. However, if even an ounce of dirty chakra leaks in during the process, it immediately turns to be Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation. She uses this technique to bring back Jirōbō and Kidōmaru in Part I. In Part II, she brings back Gaara. Intelligence Shizuko knows a lot about the human mind, fears, and emotions. Her couple of years in Akatsuki and then in Otogakure made these subjects easy to study. Stats Trivia *"Shizuko" (静子) means 'quiet child'. She was named by a female Akatsuki member that was later killed. The Akatsuki member chose the name because Shizuko was born not breathing — silent. Her clan's surname, "Shimizu (清水)" means 'pure water' in reference to the the clan's natural affinity to Water Release. *According to the databook(s): **Shizuko's hobbies are going on morning runs and creating new genjutsu. **Shizuko wishes to fight and . **Shizuko's favorite food is Kabuto's cooking, and her least favorite is anything too salty. **Shizuko's favorite color is crimson, while her least favorite is yellow. **Shizuko's favorite word is " ". *According to Kabuto's false Ninja Info Cards on her: **Shizuko graduated the Academy at the age of ten. **Shizuko has complete 55 missions total: 39 D-rank, 16 C-rank. **Shizuko's signature moves consist of water-based chakra as opposed to yin.